A new review of in vitro breast cancer studies by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst reveals a startling dearth of research on how breast cancer cells can go dormant, spread, and re-emerge years or even decades later. The review, published in Science Advances, found that less than 1% of all studies combining cells with designer environments investigate dormancy.
Breast cancer dormancy is a phenomenon where cancer cells metastasize but remain inactive, often for years, without causing detectable or symptomatic tumors. However, changes in the environment can trigger these dormant cells to start regrowing, leading to deadly metastasis. This relapse in distant organs affects 40% of early-stage breast cancer patients, and while metastasis has known biomarkers, dormant cancer cells are challenging to identify.
The review aimed to identify gaps in the research, particularly focusing on in vitro studies. These studies allow for precise control of the environment, which the team suggests may play a decisive role in whether a cell remains dormant or reactivates into a deadly metastatic tumor. The researchers emphasize the complexity of the role of the environment in breast cancer dormancy and the need for more comprehensive models to understand it better.
The review also highlights the need for more diversity in cell lines used for research, as many studies rely on the same cell line, derived from a 40-to-50-year-old white woman. The researchers call for increased creativity with existing materials, the development of new materials, and the identification of ways to model the decades-long progression of dormancy.